How much does drinking alcohol affect apnea?

[Pugsy]

I see you have an autoset. Did your pressures go up?

I don't know how much of a difference SleeperAgent might be seeing with his pressures because he is using an extremely tight auto range due to aerophagia issues. Like 6 min and 7 max if I remember right.
We need someone like me who could/would use a wide open range to get plastered and then see if it makes any difference.
I am not a good candidate for this sort of experiment though because my pressure needs change dramatically in REM stage sleep so I wouldn't know if it was the alcohol or REM sleep that was causing the pressure changes.
Plus I just can't/don't drink alcohol at all anymore because if I did I would be up peeing all night instead of sleeping. If I drink one beer I pee 4....

[archangle]

Perhaps reading this article might be informative.

http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/45/4/353.full.pdf

BTW, that article is by THE Dr. Sullivan, inventor of CPAP.

[palerider]

Plus I just can't/don't drink alcohol at all anymore because if I did I would be up peeing all night instead of sleeping. If I drink one beer I pee 4....

we need someone with an apap to volunteer to get drunk for science!!!

[sc0ttt]

Perhaps reading this article might be informative.

http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/45/4/353.full.pdf

BTW, that article is by THE Dr. Sullivan, inventor of CPAP.

It was a well-done study and a nice write-up. The study only looked at people NOT on CPAP though; so the conclusion is that alcohol makes untreated apnea worse (more frequent and longer duration events).

SleeperAgent's question was whether his TREATED apnea would be worse, and that is undetermined; with anecdotal data going both ways.

[countdown]

I've not got an auto, just the S Bipap, buuuuut if someone had an extra one laying around that I could borrow for a couple of weeks, I absolutely promise to take one (or, like five, if we're talking glasses of wine over an entire evening) for the team!

[Nozzelnut]

Plus I just can't/don't drink alcohol at all anymore because if I did I would be up peeing all night instead of sleeping. If I drink one beer I pee 4....

we need someone with an apap to volunteer to get drunk for science!!!

Already been done.

I use a Resmed S9 Autoset. 3-4cm increase in pressure; average about 12-13cm max without etoh and 15-16 cm max with, sometimes to my upper limit of 17 for a brief period of time. Most of my events get treated with pressure increases, but I'll double+ the number of event when I drink. Average of .6AHI without; 1.5+ AHI with. Opiates throw my numbers off the chart FWIW(shoulder surgery back in Feb and tonsils removed in May.) Centrals go up a bunch; from 1-2 to 50+ for the night

[palerider]

Plus I just can't/don't drink alcohol at all anymore because if I did I would be up peeing all night instead of sleeping. If I drink one beer I pee 4....

we need someone with an apap to volunteer to get drunk for science!!!

Already been done.

I use a Resmed S9 Autoset. 3-4cm increase in pressure; average about 12-13cm max without etoh and 15-16 cm max with, sometimes to my upper limit of 17 for a brief period of time. Most of my events get treated with pressure increases, but I'll double+ the number of event when I drink. Average of .6AHI without; 1.5+ AHI with. Opiates throw my numbers off the chart FWIW(shoulder surgery back in Feb and tonsils removed in May.) Centrals go up a bunch; from 1-2 to 50+ for the night

YAY! SCIENCE!

those are expected results, from what I understand thanks for the data points.

[coolbranch]

I have never CPAPed totally sober. My average AHI is under 2. My internal medicine Dr. recommended one glass of red wine per day to help with my HDL cholesterol numbers. I might push that to a couple or three glasses on the weekend. Hey, if one thing doesn't do you in then another will.

[todd2968]

When I first started using my machine I could never last the entire night with it on unless I've had a few OR MORE.
I know it is supposed to relax the muscles needed for breathing and probably not good for sleep apnea but, now I have the machine!!

[Sir NoddinOff]

Normally I don't have any alcohol for at least 3-4hrs before my usual bedtime, that seems to help me fall asleep. I have noticed that if I drink too much at patio parties here at the house, usually with our two adult sons or a few friends, that I typically don't sleep as well. BTW, occasionally I sleep pretty decently with too much alcohol in my system... go figure That's the thing about CPAP, always a few surprises to keep you on your toes. I don't drink much at all when going out to dinner or parties around town, however that's largely due to all the DUI laws and checkpoints here in California.

Oh yeah, one final note: Early on with CPAP I would sometimes have one shot of brandy or whatever if I woke up in the middle of the night, mostly in hopes it would relax enough to grab a few extra hours of sleep. That was always futile and sometimes it even evolved into a nasty headache. Not a good idea IMO.

[Day_Dreamer]

Alcohol is also linked to fragmented sleep